Wrestling.
Call it sports, call it entertainment, call it a soap
opera's for men. Wrestling has been called so many
things, yet the one thing is hasn't been referred
to as, is simply, an art. A business shrouded by mystery,
controversy, and even death, yet people are drawn
to it in some way. The wrestling industry has gone
from wrestling in territories to now wrestling in
different promotions all around the world. Yet the
one question remains......How far will a person/promoter
go to put someone over with the crowd? In the past
5 years we've lost some of the best wrestlers in the
world. Some due to overdosing on pain killers, due
to the simple fact that a wrestlers body is constantly
being challenged working 320+ days a year, constant
traveling, nagging injuries, and still they continue
to do this.....why? Fame? Money? Could it be simply
put, a child hood dream, come true. Or could it be
put the way Stone Cold Steve Austin has put it, "You
might as well call me a junkie, because every time
I hear that glass break, it's like a surge of Adrenaline
rushing through my body."

February
10, 2003. A day that wont be soon forgotten as Curt
Henning, better known to the wrestling community as
"Mr. Perfect." was pronounced dead. Earlier
that day he was suppose to wrestle at the Florida
State Fair in Tampa wrestling for Jimmy Hart's All-Star
Wrestling. Henning had started wrestling in 1979 and
throughout the 80's and 90's had established himself
in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship
Wrestling and possibly to the world, as one of the
most talented wrestlers in the world. I just kept
telling myself, that, there was no way that could
have possibly been Curt Henning, because he was portrayed
as a man who was above every other man, a man who
excelled at all he did, and yet here I read an article
stating he had passed away. We lost one of the best
wrestlers in the world, due to a overdose, and all
I could say to myself is, "Why would he do this?
He's
suppose to be superman. He chose the wrestling business,
the business didn't choose him, so why did he do this?"

Perhaps
the most horrific day that will never be forgotten
is May 23, 1999 in Kansas City, Missouri. A wrestler
by the name of Owen Hart, who at the time was to be
lowered from the rafters 80' above the ring at a televised
pay-per view event, by a cable attached to a safety
ring, which once completely lowered to the ring, and
his feet were planted soundly on the mat, that he'd
have to pull this "O" ring, and it would
completely release the cable/harness which was lowering
him to the ring, would release it from his body. At
the time this was happening, a rival wrestling promotion
World Championship Wresting, was doing this same stunt
on a regular weekly basis, with a man who was lowered
from the rafters of arena's across the United States
named Sting. The rating wars were so intense for the
Monday night ratings between World Championship Wrestling
and the World Wrestling Federation, now World Wrestling
Entertainment.

The
following ratings come from Neilson Media Research
website. Around the time of Owen Hart's fateful day,
WWF/WWE's Monday Night Raw programming was drawing
in an average of a 6.0 plus. On April's 5, 12, 19
and 26, the ratings were: 5.8, 6.3, 6.1, and 6.0,
and on May's 3, 10, 17, and 24 they drew in: 6.4,
8.1, 6.4, and 7.2. Whereas with WCW on April's 5,
12, 19, and 26 ratings were: 4.3, 4.4, 4.1 and 3.9
and with May's ratings: 3.4, 3.3, 3.8, 3.1. With ratings
like these, why would the WWF/WWE need to place it's
wrestlers in a position to do things not required?
We have to remember these are people, they're not
superhuman, and when they get hurt, it's real. They
bleed like everyone else. They don't need to be doing
Hollywood stuntmen's jobs. A wrestler should be just
that...a wrestler. Nothing more, nothing less. Granted
the gimmicks are great, but if you want it to be entertainment,
try not filling with with blood, violence, sex, drugs
and all sorts of things of that nature, and go back
to the roots of wrestling. Go back to where two men,
went into the ring, and took care of business.

Wrestling
has gone from pure skill with such men as: Bruno Samartino,
Nature Boy Buddy Rogers, and Don Leo Jonathan and
Stu Hart, who came to the ring with a purpose. They
came to settle bitter battles with the men they couldn't
stand to be around to men such as: Goldust, The Hurricane,
and his little sidekick Rosey, who all paraded with
costumes, playing around, displaying more stupidity
than actual ring skill, which in the past these 3
men have shown yet, we're no longer talking about
wrestling but we're talking about entertainment. Wrestling
is no longer wrestling but it's in fact a soap opera,
filled with violence, sex, alcohol, abuse. It would
seem that wrestling is no longer a factor in these
promotions but it's how far will a person be pushed
to get ratings, whether its to do some stunt, which
these athletes, aren't stuntmen, or if they'll perform
a certain angle which goes against their personal
beliefs, and even if it goes against their own feelings
about not feeling save about doing these things.

While
attending a wrestling event down in Texas, I was able
to get involved with wrestling by training to become
one, and was able to talk with a few of the guys about
things, and often asked about gimmicks and angles
and such, and he said sometimes a promoter will ask
you to do certain things and if you don't do them,
you wont advance into the ranks. So, does this mean
if a wrestler refuses to do dangerous acts in the
ring that he wont be a superstar, that he'll be a
jobber for the rest of his career? Wrestling is dead.
Plain and simple, it's gone from pure skill and athleticism
to a glorified version of Hollywood. I'm not saying
wrestlers have no skill, because every wrestler has
skill, they have the conditioning and they have what
it takes to be where they are and they all possess
something unique or they wouldn't be where they are.

The
wrestling industry needs more men such as: Kurt Angle,
William Regal, and Chris Benoit, men who exonerate
the true meaning of wrestling and who can teach the
newer guys the art of wrestling and to do it where
others can learn and understand the meaning behind
it all. Men who bring respectability to the business
and who are what they call a true professional. As
a great technical wrestler of the past 2 decades,
Bret "Hitman" Hart had stated, " Wrestling
isn't wrestling anymore, it's gotten so horrible and
to the point where people are getting blood bloodthirsty
for violence, sex, and drugs. They don't care for
wrestling at all, they just want violence. We're not
stuntmen, we're not actors, we're wrestlers."

Editors
note: One in a while Mediaman and The
Australian Sports and Entertainment Portal receive
a letter from someone who is passionate about something,
and indicate they would like to submit an article.
The above article stems from this. A fan who had seen
enough deaths, perhaps too many, in professional wrestling.

It
is our pleasure and privilege, to put this information
out into the mainstream media. Greg Tingle.